Eureka man sentenced on criminal endangerment conviction

A man who was accused of driving drunk near Rexford last fall recently pleaded guilty to criminal endangerment in Lincoln County District Court.

Kelly Patrick Fitzgerald, 62, appeared in Lincoln County District Court on March 8 and entered his plea. The plea deal between the county and Fitzgerald call for a 5-year suspended sentence to a state Department of Corrections facility. District Judge Karen Townsend approved of the agreement.

She also waived the fines after Fitzgerald's public defender, Ben Kolter, requested he wouldn't have to pay them because of his limited income and an increase in rent. Fitzgerald received credit for serving 56 days in custody.

Fitzgerald initially appeared in court on Sept. 12 and pleaded not guilty to criminal endangerment and DUI, fourth offense, both felonies.

He was driving erratically near the Tobacco River Bridge when a Lincoln County citizen helped get him off the road during an incident near Rexford.

According to the probable cause statement by Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Bo Pitman, at about 11 a.m. on Aug. 27, the citizen called 911 to report he was following a car that was driving all over the road on Montana 37 near the Tobacco River Bridge.

The citizen called back a short time later and said Fitzgerald ran someone off the road near the Rexford turnoff and he conducted a pit maneuver to get the car off the road. The man also said he was holding the driver at gunpoint.

Pitman said when he arrived, he saw Fitzgerald slumped over in the driver’s seat and could not have any sort of intelligent conversation with him, according to the court document.

After placing Fitzgerald in the back seat of his patrol vehicle, Pitman spoke to the driver who called 911 and got the car off the road.

The man said he said he felt he had no other choice than to force the car off the road to keep Fitzgerald from killing someone.